Thor Nystrom

Evaluations

Supplemental Draft Preview

This is the first year we’ve run a Supplemental Draft preview. The reason for this is straightforward: Most recent Supplemental Drafts have not been worth your time.

This one is.

Since I began covering college football and the NFL Draft for Rotoworld five years ago, only one player has been taken in the Supplemental Draft, Clemson T Isaiah Battle (Rams, 2015, Round 5). The last time the NFL reaped anything of consequence from the event was in 2011 (Ohio State QB Terrell Pryor; Raiders, Round 3) and 2012 (Baylor WR Josh Gordon; Browns, Round 2).

This time around, we’re almost guaranteed to see two selections, and we may even get three. We’ll find out on Wednesday. The non-televised event begins with the first round at 1 p.m. EST, when each team is given 10 minutes to submit a bid. The process lasts roughly 70 minutes to spin through all seven rounds one-by-one. The winning team loses the corresponding selection in the 2019 draft.

Editor's Note: Be sure to checkout DRAFT's $1,000,000 Best Ball Championship. Best Ball is season long but with no management. Just set it and forget it! Once you're done drafting, that’s it – no or waivers– you don’t even have to set your lineup. Your best players get automatically selected and you'll get the best score, every week. For a limited time, DRAFT is giving Rotoworld readers a FREE entry into a real money best ball draft with your first deposit! Here's the link

Without further ado, here’s our scouting reports for all five eligible players and a prediction for where each will get taken (and by whom).

Beal declared for the supplemental draft after he was declared academically ineligible. He’s not considered a character risk, though. When news broke of his departure from Kalamazoo, I was working on my 2019 NFL Draft defender rankings. I had Beal ranked CB6, and projected him as a 2019 second-round pick.

In his second year as a starter in 2017, Beal broke out, earning second-team All-MAC honors. Beal flashed early, picking off USC’s Sam Darnold in the nationally-televised opener. Pro Football Focus gave Beal an 86.1 grade last year, identical to that of Colorado's Isaiah Oliver (drafted in Round 2 by the Falcons). For reference, PFF graded Oliver as the sixth-best CB in this past class (ironically, the exact same ranking I had planned to give Beal in my too-early 2019 rankings).

Beal may not have jumped onto our radars until last fall, but he’s no stranger to top competition, having cut his teeth by squaring off against Corey Davis in practice during his first two years on campus.

Beal’s speed, athleticism, length, football I.Q. and tackling ability tantalize. It’s difficult to beat him vertically due to his long speed and technique, and Beal’s fluidity and footwork is apparent when mirroring receivers on intermediate routes. Beal isn’t a one-trick pony press guy. His speed, movement skills and size project to any scheme. On the field, he’s a fighter, a guy who gets his hands in your chest off the line and battles with you every step of the way downfield, using the boundary as his friend.

He needs to pack some weight onto his lithe frame, a development that would further play up the spunky facets of his coverage style. At present, he can be out-muscled a bit by big, physical outside receivers. But make no mistake: This is a guy who could enter an NFL rotation very quickly, perhaps even in Year 1.

This year’s top supplemental prospect, Beal’s ceiling on Wednesday afternoon is Round 2. If that happens, keep an eye on the Chiefs, who have a cornerback need and a pair of second-rounders. My assumption, however, is that he drops to Round 3, which would be a nice little discount on a player who could have worked his way into Round 1 consideration next spring had he turned in a big senior campaign.

Alexander declared after being ruled academically ineligible. He has a reputation of being something of a knucklehead. Alexander has admitted that he needed to grow up after he got a big head during the early part of his stay at Virginia Tech. That period of his career was mired with goofball antics, including a marijuana habit and an aversion to the classroom. Alexander received 12 months' probation following an April 2016 marijuana citation that occurred hours after the Hokies’ spring game.

Fortunately for him, the NFL has taken a more progressive view of pot in recent years. Alexander’s stock may take a slight hit because of all this, but that’s all it will be — a theoretical slight hit. And there’s this: The Virginia Tech coaching staff has publicly vouched for him.

He comes equipped with elite length, strong ball skills and some lower-half power, as evidenced by his solid jumps. In another life, Alexander may have been a possession receiver.

Unfortunately, Alexander’s athleticism is middling. His 4.6 speed was apparent on tape, as was his lack of quick-twitch athleticism. Alexander can get torched deep by speedy receivers and abused underneath by shifty wideouts. He has a labored backpedal and is a bit stiff in the hips. He’s a long-strider who plays high and doesn't have great short-area quickness. Because of this, he can get crossed up and left behind by nifty route runners.

Alexander excels when he can keep his man in front of him, disrupting at the catch point by crashing down with the ball in the air and getting his ropey arms tangled between the receiver and the projectile. Because of his length, Alexander has a huge tackling strike zone. His willingness to help out in the run game comes and goes. Sometimes he’d crash down and make a valuable tackle most collegiate corners wouldn't have been in a position to make, and sometimes he’d whiff on the ball-carrier like a hard-to-watch Chris Davis cut.

Alexander’s length and ball skills make him a fit for teams that press and play zone coverage. I had him ranked him in the CB13-15 range on my 2019 cornerback list before news of his dismissal, and saw him as a Rounds 4-5 guy. I think he’ll be available at a slight discount on Wednesday. But the team picking him better be aware that Alexander probably isn’t ready to play immediately. Until his technique improves, Alexander is just a big corner who lacks the movement skills to put himself in positions to capitalize on his length and ball skills.

If Alexander is unable to make it as a corner, he does have the ability to move back and play safety, a position that would be more forgiving to his lack of foot speed. That position would play up his north-south game while mitigating the instances where his lack of agility is leveraged against him. Even as a safety, though, he’d have below-average athleticism -- so I find it hard to dream on this high ceiling I've read about.

Alexander was reportedly rated extremely highly by the NFL’s scouting services. I thought Alexander was over-hyped over the winter when I was doing early work on the 2019 class, and that opinion has only calcified now that Alexander has cost himself the extra year to work on his game that he desperately needed.

Prediction: Round 6Team: Chiefs

This is the first year we’ve run a Supplemental Draft preview. The reason for this is straightforward: Most recent Supplemental Drafts have not been worth your time.

This one is.

Since I began covering college football and the NFL Draft for Rotoworld five years ago, only one player has been taken in the Supplemental Draft, Clemson T Isaiah Battle (Rams, 2015, Round 5). The last time the NFL reaped anything of consequence from the event was in 2011 (Ohio State QB Terrell Pryor; Raiders, Round 3) and 2012 (Baylor WR Josh Gordon; Browns, Round 2).

This time around, we’re almost guaranteed to see two selections, and we may even get three. We’ll find out on Wednesday. The non-televised event begins with the first round at 1 p.m. EST, when each team is given 10 minutes to submit a bid. The process lasts roughly 70 minutes to spin through all seven rounds one-by-one. The winning team loses the corresponding selection in the 2019 draft.

Editor's Note: Be sure to checkout DRAFT's $1,000,000 Best Ball Championship. Best Ball is season long but with no management. Just set it and forget it! Once you're done drafting, that’s it – no or waivers– you don’t even have to set your lineup. Your best players get automatically selected and you'll get the best score, every week. For a limited time, DRAFT is giving Rotoworld readers a FREE entry into a real money best ball draft with your first deposit! Here's the link

Without further ado, here’s our scouting reports for all five eligible players and a prediction for where each will get taken (and by whom).

Beal declared for the supplemental draft after he was declared academically ineligible. He’s not considered a character risk, though. When news broke of his departure from Kalamazoo, I was working on my 2019 NFL Draft defender rankings. I had Beal ranked CB6, and projected him as a 2019 second-round pick.

In his second year as a starter in 2017, Beal broke out, earning second-team All-MAC honors. Beal flashed early, picking off USC’s Sam Darnold in the nationally-televised opener. Pro Football Focus gave Beal an 86.1 grade last year, identical to that of Colorado's Isaiah Oliver (drafted in Round 2 by the Falcons). For reference, PFF graded Oliver as the sixth-best CB in this past class (ironically, the exact same ranking I had planned to give Beal in my too-early 2019 rankings).

Beal may not have jumped onto our radars until last fall, but he’s no stranger to top competition, having cut his teeth by squaring off against Corey Davis in practice during his first two years on campus.

Beal’s speed, athleticism, length, football I.Q. and tackling ability tantalize. It’s difficult to beat him vertically due to his long speed and technique, and Beal’s fluidity and footwork is apparent when mirroring receivers on intermediate routes. Beal isn’t a one-trick pony press guy. His speed, movement skills and size project to any scheme. On the field, he’s a fighter, a guy who gets his hands in your chest off the line and battles with you every step of the way downfield, using the boundary as his friend.

He needs to pack some weight onto his lithe frame, a development that would further play up the spunky facets of his coverage style. At present, he can be out-muscled a bit by big, physical outside receivers. But make no mistake: This is a guy who could enter an NFL rotation very quickly, perhaps even in Year 1.

This year’s top supplemental prospect, Beal’s ceiling on Wednesday afternoon is Round 2. If that happens, keep an eye on the Chiefs, who have a cornerback need and a pair of second-rounders. My assumption, however, is that he drops to Round 3, which would be a nice little discount on a player who could have worked his way into Round 1 consideration next spring had he turned in a big senior campaign.

Alexander declared after being ruled academically ineligible. He has a reputation of being something of a knucklehead. Alexander has admitted that he needed to grow up after he got a big head during the early part of his stay at Virginia Tech. That period of his career was mired with goofball antics, including a marijuana habit and an aversion to the classroom. Alexander received 12 months' probation following an April 2016 marijuana citation that occurred hours after the Hokies’ spring game.

Fortunately for him, the NFL has taken a more progressive view of pot in recent years. Alexander’s stock may take a slight hit because of all this, but that’s all it will be — a theoretical slight hit. And there’s this: The Virginia Tech coaching staff has publicly vouched for him.

He comes equipped with elite length, strong ball skills and some lower-half power, as evidenced by his solid jumps. In another life, Alexander may have been a possession receiver.

Unfortunately, Alexander’s athleticism is middling. His 4.6 speed was apparent on tape, as was his lack of quick-twitch athleticism. Alexander can get torched deep by speedy receivers and abused underneath by shifty wideouts. He has a labored backpedal and is a bit stiff in the hips. He’s a long-strider who plays high and doesn't have great short-area quickness. Because of this, he can get crossed up and left behind by nifty route runners.

Alexander excels when he can keep his man in front of him, disrupting at the catch point by crashing down with the ball in the air and getting his ropey arms tangled between the receiver and the projectile. Because of his length, Alexander has a huge tackling strike zone. His willingness to help out in the run game comes and goes. Sometimes he’d crash down and make a valuable tackle most collegiate corners wouldn't have been in a position to make, and sometimes he’d whiff on the ball-carrier like a hard-to-watch Chris Davis cut.

Alexander’s length and ball skills make him a fit for teams that press and play zone coverage. I had him ranked him in the CB13-15 range on my 2019 cornerback list before news of his dismissal, and saw him as a Rounds 4-5 guy. I think he’ll be available at a slight discount on Wednesday. But the team picking him better be aware that Alexander probably isn’t ready to play immediately. Until his technique improves, Alexander is just a big corner who lacks the movement skills to put himself in positions to capitalize on his length and ball skills.

If Alexander is unable to make it as a corner, he does have the ability to move back and play safety, a position that would be more forgiving to his lack of foot speed. That position would play up his north-south game while mitigating the instances where his lack of agility is leveraged against him. Even as a safety, though, he’d have below-average athleticism -- so I find it hard to dream on this high ceiling I've read about.

Alexander was reportedly rated extremely highly by the NFL’s scouting services. I thought Alexander was over-hyped over the winter when I was doing early work on the 2019 class, and that opinion has only calcified now that Alexander has cost himself the extra year to work on his game that he desperately needed.

Like those above him on this list, Bryant declared for the supplemental draft after leaving the team over academic issues. He’s a purported freak athlete who is coming off a poor season. Earlier in his career, it was reported that Bryant had run a 4.24 40-yard dash with a 600-pound dead lift. We didn’t see much of that athleticism last fall. In 2017, more than a third of his Bryant’s 32 season tackles came against Auburn (11). He was hit with a DUI charge prior to the season (January).

On the field, Bryant is a hammer who only sees nails. He flies around the field and levies the occasional bone-jarring hit. Too often, though, he’s caught out of position because he’s failed to diagnose correctly. Bryant’s game lacks nuance. He has a see-ball, hit-ball philosophy, but like a hitter who lacks plate discipline, he can be easily fooled. And for all the big hits, there are also plenty of missed tackles sprinkled in.

Another reason he’s not around the ball enough is due to his athletic stiffness. Bryant is a downhill sprinter, not an east-west fluid mover. His pro day results disappointed. Bryant will still be an above-average NFL safety in terms of pure athleticism, but we’re talking in the top-30th percentile, not the top 3-percentile, which his “freak” athleticism billing implied.

On his ability to play safety alone, Bryant isn’t terribly interesting. But due to his stout build and athleticism, NFL teams will no doubt perceive Bryant as a guy who could contribute on special teams immediately. You don’t have to squint hard to see Bryant streaking down the field on kick coverage to obliterate some poor return man.

Once he gets his foot in the door, Bryant will need to work extremely hard to factor into some team’s future secondary plans. If he can improve his skill level, improve his diagnostic skills and cut down on unforced errors, Bryant could become a third safety. But while he’s flashed talent (see his freshman campaign, or last year’s Auburn game), Bryant spent the past two years as a souped-up tease. The holes in his game are just too wide at present for me to perceive a path for him to eventually become a low-level starter.

When I was working on my 2019 safety list, Bryant was right on my cut line. He would have ranked somewhere between S15-20 on that list. I saw him as a late-rounder or UDFA in 2019, and I’d assume he goes undrafted on Wednesday (though I wouldn't be shocked if a team took a Round 7 flier on him for the perceived special teams ability). When I posted my UDFA prediction on Twitter a few weeks ago, Bryant DM’d me the “shh” emoji, which I got a big kick out of.

Prediction: UDFATeam: Cardinals

Grand Valley State RB Martyveus Carter | 5’11/202 | Pro Day: N/A

A lower-level superstar, Carter went off for a D-II leading 1,908 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns in 2016. He dropped off to 931 yards last season while battling injuries, but still managed a sterling 7.6 YPC.

Carter returned to school, no doubt hoping for a 2018 that approximated his 2016. Unfortunately, he was ruled ineligible in the spring, forcing him into the supplemental process. A fight in high school may have cost him a chance to go to Northern Illinois, and Carter has long struggled with academics. He enters the NFL with character concerns.

Carter has a precarious uphill climb in front of him. His mix of quicks, feel and evasion in the second and third levels allowed him to torch small-school defenders. In the NFL, where his athleticism will go from plus-plus to (I'm assuming here; we don't have test numbers to go on) below-average, he’ll be exposed.

Carter isn’t much of a receiver, and he lacks pop as a runner. He doesn’t have the power to be a lunchpail type, he doesn’t have the skill to be a third-down back, and he doesn't have the upper-level athleticism to be anything but one of those two things.

He’s worth a look, however, and it wouldn’t be stunning if he hung on to a practice squad slot this fall. I just can’t muster any more enthusiasm than that.

Ugwoegbu declared after an indefinite suspension in April effectively ended his collegiate career. Oregon State used Ugwoegbu as a sort of chesspiece, deploying him as a LB/S hybrid.

If you squint a little and put on your magical thinking cap, Ugwoegbu sort of looks like one of those undersized new-age linebackers like Deion Jones or Roquan Smith. But if you open your eyes and expose your skull to the sun, you’ll see Ugwoegbu for what he is: A linebacker with a safety’s size and a nimble defensive linemen’s athleticism.

It would be easier to account for all this if Ugwoegbu displayed other-worldly skill on the field. He doesn’t. As an edge rusher, he’s raw and unrefined. And in coverage, his lack of athleticism can get him torched if he finds himself matched up with an athlete. He’ll also turn 23 in September, making him older than many rookies we saw picked in April.

Ugwoegbu's best attribute might be his motor. On-field desire may have gotten him here, but it’s unlikely to take him much further. I expect his stay in the NFL to be short, more likely counted in weeks or months than in years.

Thor Nystrom is a former MLB.com associate reporter whose writing has been honored by Rolling Stone magazine and The Best American Essays series. Say hi to Rotoworld's college football writer on Twitter @thorku.Email :Thor Nystrom

We and our partners use cookies on this site to improve our service, perform analytics, personalize advertising, measure advertising performance, and remember website preferences. By using the site, you consent to these cookies. for more information on cookies including how to manage your consent visit our cookie policy.